The role of territory in the employability of young people

ABSTRACT

The objective of this article is to analyse how the territory operates in the employability of young people who have failed or dropped out of school. As a starting hypothesis, we propose that the local traditions and the productive model linked to the territory condition the training and work expectations of the young population. A case study conducted within the framework of the AJOVE project ‘Millorant l’ocupació de la joventut al territori’ funded by the Observatori Català de la Joventut is presented. The methodological strategy followed is qualitative, so we could compare the training and labour trajectories of three production models linked to different territories, specifically industry, services, and agriculture. The results indicate, on the one hand, common aspects shared by young people, regardless of place of residence, according to their training experience, family status, and gender. On the other hand, the territory is important in the construction of expectations that underlie the decisions made about school and work.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth
• employment
• territory
• training
• gender

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The citation codes were created from the following outline:

W/M: Woman/Man

DO/RT/TC: Dropout/Returned to training/Trajectory continues

A/I/S: Agricultural sector/Industrial sector /Service sector

Examples: WRTI: Woman, Returned to Training, Industrial sector; MDOA: Man, Dropout, Agricultural sector.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Catalan Youth Observatory, Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Regional Government) [2016AJOVE000018].

Notes on contributors

Vicent Borràs

Vicent Borràs completed his Ph.D in Sociology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Currently, he is Professor in the Department of Sociology at the UAB, researcher at the Center d'Estudis Sociològics sobre la Vida Quotidiana i el Treball (QUIT-UAB) - Institut d'Estudis del Treball (IET-UAB). His main lines of research are framed in the field of the sociology of work, the sociology of consumption, the sociology of gender and the methods and techniques of social research. Specifically, the topics addressed have been sexual harassment in the workplace, times and jobs, work-life balance, dependency and care. He has participated in different competitive investigations at the regional, national and European level. It has different publications in specialized journals within its fields of specialization (Labor Sociology, RES, Men and Maculinities, Papers in Political Economy, PAPERS) as well as the publication of books and book chapters in recognized publishers within the Social Sciences.

Albert Trinidad

Albert Trinidad is a Graduate in Sociology and Master in Social Policy, Work and well-being at Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). As a researcher he has been involved in projects of the public administration, unions, and private foundations. Today he combines her work in the public administration (Dpt de Treball i Afers Socials i Families) with some projects at the Sociological Research Group of Everyday Life and Work (QUIT) of the UAB. His field of interest focuses on gender and class inequalities on the field of work.

Nuria Alcaraz

Nuria Alcaraz is a Graduate in Sociology and Master in Social Policy, Work and well-being at Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). As a researcher he has been involved in projects of the public administration, unions, and private foundations. Today he combines her work in the public administration with some projects at the Sociological Research Group of Everyday Life and Work (QUIT) of the UAB. His field of interest focuses on gender and class inequalities on the field of work.

Sara Moreno-Colom

Sara Moreno-Colom is a Ph.D in Sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). She is a member of the Centre d'Estudis Sociològics sobre la Vida Quotidiana i el Treball (QUIT) and the Institut d’Estudis del Treball (IET) in the UAB. She is teaching sociology at the same University as a lecturer. As a researcher her areas of interest are focus research around work, time, care, welfare and everyday life. Special attention is paid in her research activity to the social inequalities, social policies and gender approach.